President Donald Trump informed Congress on October 2nd, 2025, that the United States is at war with drug cartels, a determination that aligns with intelligence suggesting an imminent escalation of U.S. actions against the Soles Cartel. Concurrently, a senior Trump administration official confirmed to Semafor that the White House is not ruling out attacks within Venezuela, a statement made between 8:38 PM and 11:06 PM UTC on October 2nd. These developments follow Venezuela's accusation that U.S. military planes violated its airspace, as denounced by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. The White House's openness to operations within Venezuela, as reported by Semafor, is seen as a move to increase pressure on the Maduro regime, according to a social media post by @cesarbaezc, citing the New York Times report on Trump's congressional notification. The threat of attacks on key infrastructure for international drug trafficking is presented as a strategy to fracture the regime's power structure. This follows earlier reports from October 2nd, between 7:41 PM and 8:08 PM UTC, where President Trump officially notified Congress of a non-international armed conflict with designated terrorist organizations, directing the Department of War to conduct operations against them. Venezuelan Defense Minister Padrino López previously denounced on October 2nd, at approximately 7:41 PM UTC, that five U.S. combat aircraft violated Venezuelan airspace, a claim also reported by AlertaNews24 on X. This accusation was a continuation of earlier claims from the same day, where Venezuelan officials stated that American planes approached its coastline, deeming it a provocation and a threat to their sovereignty. Amidst these tensions, Venezuelan military assets, including an S-125 Pechora-2M air defense system, were observed moving westward from Maracay towards Carabobo, indicating heightened regional readiness. The Venezuelan Comprehensive Aerospace Defense Command (CODAI) had reportedly been placed on "condition one" for increased readiness.
